Two months of Maine sports betting have passed and it looks like bettors are already mimicking the older legal states; the handle has dropped and revenue is up.
Maine Gambling Control Unit reported that the Pine Tree State accepted $38.1 million in wagers last month, well short of the $44.4 million in December (the state’s first full month of sports betting).
January’s handle was Maine’s worst showing since launch 2.5 months ago, but in context, this isn’t really bad news for Maine specifically since most betting states are seeing a decrease in action last month as there are fewer football games.
Bettors can only choose between DraftKings and Caesars in the Pine Tree State and most are flocking to the former. DraftKings saw $32 million in bets compared to Caesar’s $6 million. Their respective market share is certainly something they like to see (84% for DraftKings and 16% for Caesars), even though Maine isn’t bringing in the revenue of the other states.
But that may be improving as revenue came in much higher in January versus December. In December DraftKings made $4.2 million in adjusted revenue and Caesars $269,000. Last month that grew to $4.7 million and $743,000 respectively.
January’s tax bill
Maine taxes operators 10% of their adjusted revenue. Thanks to an increased hold, where DraftKings kept 15.4% of the tickets they saw and Caesars reported a 13.3% hold, the tax bill improved significantly.
The state took in $545,000 in taxes, a 24.4% monthly jump. This number is certainly expected to fall as the football season ends and the hold percentage reverts to a more common amount.
Most of the money goes to Maine’s General Fund, followed by the expenses of the Gambling Control Unit and gambling addiction services. The remainder goes into other funds tied to Maine’s horse and agricultural sectors.
